Attorney General Jay Jones Files Lawsuit Against Trump Administration For Holding Hostage Billions in Critical USDA Funding

Attorney General Jay Jones Files Lawsuit Against Trump Administration For Holding Hostage Billions in Critical USDA Funding

Richmond, VA. - Attorney General Jay Jones joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over its unconstitutional and unlawful attempt to impose conditions on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, grants, cooperative agreements and mutual interest agreements.

In their lawsuit, Attorney General Jones and the coalition assert that USDA has threatened harsh penalties if states do not comply with the agency’s vague and expansive funding conditions relating to immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion, and gender identity, which are unrelated to the purpose of USDA funding. The lawsuit asks the court to block USDA from imposing these illegal funding conditions, including on critical USDA programs such as the school lunch program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); and the Volunteer Fire Capacity Program. The programs provide basic, essential services for millions of Virginias most vulnerable children, working families, senior citizens and rural communities.

“The Trump administration continues to target lifelines like food and safety for millions of people in Virginia with continued aggressive, arbitrary, and illegal overreach,” said Attorney General Jay Jones. “The new rules seek to politicize school lunches, food stamps, and even limiting volunteer firefighting capacity for rural communities. We will not allow Virginia’s children, families, and seniors to bear the brunt of Donald Trump’s callous and lawless policies that put their futures and their lives at risk. My office will continue to use every legal tool at its disposal to ensure the safety and security of Virginians in our fight against continued attacks from the federal government.”

Effective Dec. 31, 2025, USDA adopted new funding conditions. The conditions require states to promise to comply with the Trump administration’s policies related to gender identity, diversity, immigration and fair athletic opportunities for girls and women. However, Attorney General Jones and the attorneys general explain in their lawsuit that USDA does not fully identify or limit which policies the states must comply with, leaving states at the mercy of the administration for enforcement of the new conditions.

In their lawsuit, Attorney General Jones and the coalition allege the Trump administration has violated the Spending Clause by imposing coercive conditions without clear notice of its funding conditions. The lawsuit also alleges the Trump administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because conditions are the arbitrary and capricious, not constitutional, contrary to law and beyond USDA’s statutory authority.

USDA programs feed about 30 million children across the nation through the school lunch program, strengthen the American food ecosystem from farm to table, support national security through a robust and safe domestic agriculture community, fund university research to advance domestic food production, and save lives and infrastructure by funding firefighting programs.

Estimates show that nearly 1 million Virginians are facing hunger. Roughly 1 in 10 Virginians are enrolled in SNAP benefits, including children, seniors, and adults with disabilities. WIC serves approximately 105,000 to 127,000 Virginia recipients per month, and half of all infants born in the United States. In Virginia, the Volunteer Fire Capacity Program serves as a federal-state partnership providing critical funding to rural fire departments for wildfire protection, including safety equipment, communications gear, and training. Loss of these critical services would result in hungry infants and children, and degrade existing emergency response systems, especially for rural homeowners.

Attorney General Jones and the attorneys general have asked the court to prohibit USDA from implementing or enforcing the illegal conditions.

Joining Attorney General Jones in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

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